Personality Traits of an Entrepreneur, Determinants of Successful Microenterprise in Ireland

Why do certain individuals become entrepreneur and are successful, whereas others do not? The researchers in the entrepreneurship field attempt to answer that question by studying the personality traits of entrepreneurs for decades. Many confirm that the personality traits have a positive correlation with entrepreneurial intention and performance. Various studies suggest that the main entrepreneurial characteristics are risk attitudes, need for achievement, internal locus of control, innovativeness, and self-efficacy. However, debate exist if the personality traits are born or inherited and if the entrepreneurs’ actions are influenced by factors such as family, culture, education and market conditions. Although these aspects will be reviewed the focus of this study is on entrepreneurs’ personality traits only. Consequently, the aim of this study is to identify which of the personality traits, and whether there are traits, that are associated with operating successful microenterprise, from a perspective of an owner-manager of an established business in Ireland. The findings of this research revealed that the participants perceive themselves as individuals who possess indirectly four out of five most cited traits in the literature, which are need for achievement, locus of control, innovativeness and self-efficacy. In addition, they mentioned ability to relate to others, being organized and perform a quality work as the most important characteristics of a successful business owner. Also, other factors of environment influenced the participants’ decision to become an entrepreneur and Ireland was perceived as an attractive country to set up a business. Still, most of the participants do not perceive themselves as a successful entrepreneur. In summary, the inconclusiveness of this study generate more questions than it provide answers, coupled with this study limitations it is suggested that additional and more extensive research is desired

Purification procedure for the isolation of a P-I metalloprotease and an acidic phospholipase A 2 fromBothrops atrox snake venom

Background Snake venoms are complex mixtures of inorganic and organic components, mainly proteins and peptides. Standardization of methods for isolating bioactive molecules from snake venoms is extremely difficult due to the complex and highly variable composition of venoms, which can be influenced by factors such as age and geographic location of the specimen. Therefore, this study aimed to standardize a simple purification methodology for obtaining a P-I class metalloprotease (MP) and an acidic phospholipase A2 (PLA 2 ) from Bothrops atroxvenom, and biochemically characterize these molecules to enable future functional studies.Methods To obtain the toxins of interest, a method has been standardized using consecutive isolation steps. The purity level of the molecules was confirmed by RP-HPLC and SDS-PAGE. The enzymes were characterized by determining their molecular masses, isoelectric points, specific functional activity and partial amino acid sequencing.Results The metalloprotease presented molecular mass of 22.9 kDa and pI 7.4, with hemorrhagic and fibrin(ogen)olytic activities, and its partial amino acid sequence revealed high similarity with other P-I class metalloproteases. These results suggest that the isolated metalloprotease is Batroxase, a P-I metalloprotease previously described by our research group. The phospholipase A 2 showed molecular mass of 13.7 kDa and pI 6.5, with high phospholipase activity and similarity to other acidic PLA2 s from snake venoms. These data suggest that the acidic PLA2 is a novel enzyme from B. atrox venom, being denominated BatroxPLA 2 .Conclusions The present study successfully standardized a simple methodology to isolate the metalloprotease Batroxase and the acidic PLA 2 BatroxPLA2 from the venom of B. atrox, consisting mainly of classical chromatographic processes. These two enzymes will be used in future studies to evaluate their effects on the complement system and the inflammatory process, in addition to the thrombolytic potential of the metalloprotease